All Hands on Deck

All Hands on Deck: Learning Adventures Aboard "Old Ironsides" and History and Social Science Standards of Learning for Virginia Public Schools

Kindergarten
Introduction to History and the Social Sciences

The standards for kindergarten students include an introduction to the lives of interesting people in history. During the course of their first year in school, students should learn basic concepts involving historical time sequence, geographic direction, and economic choices. They should use maps and globes to identify and locate some of the places and geographic features that are discussed in rich stories of history. Initial citizenship education should include the importance of following rules and respecting the rights of other people. Students should also have opportunities to learn about national symbols. They should learn how individuals acquire the economic goods and services they need and want. They should learn the concepts of self-control, justice, courage, heroism, and leadership.

USS Constitution – What Do You Know? (10 (10)
Constitution Concentration, a game of memory and matching pairs (18)
Coloring, Counting and Chain of Command, putting objects in order (42)
Good Luck, Bad Luck, writing about personal experience (67)
Simplified Skipper Says (79)

Grade One
Introduction to History and the Social Sciences

The standards for first-grade students include comparisons of everyday life and traditions in different places and times. First- grade students should construct simple maps and globes to identify continents and locate places in Virginia and around the world related to their comparative studies of life and culture. First graders should also construct time lines; study economic concepts of scarcity, productive resources, and consumption; learn the value of rights and responsibilities; and help to make and enforce class rules. The student should be encouraged to develop good character through stories that teach such virtues as honesty, truthfulness, kindness, self-discipline, and responsibility.

Let's Decide, a role-playing activity (10)
Constitution Concentration, a game of memory and matching pairs (18)
First, Second, Third…, making a time line (18)
Coloring, Counting and Chain of Command, putting objects in order (42)
Good Luck, Bad Luck, writing about personal experience (67)
Simplified Skipper Says (80)
World Exploring, understanding other places, other cultures (97)

Grade Two
Introduction to History and the Social Sciences

The standards for second grade introduce students to the heritage and contributions of historic groups of people throughout the world. Second graders should also continue development of map skills and demonstrate enhanced understanding of basic economic concepts. Civics standards include distinguishing the basic functions of government and the officials responsible for each.

Let's Decide, a role-playing activity (10)
Constitution Concentration, a game of memory and matching pairs (18)
First, Second, Third…, making a time line (18)
Coloring, Counting and Chain of Command, putting objects in order (42)
Good Luck, Bad Luck, writing about personal experience (67)
Simplified Skipper Says (80)
World Exploring, understanding other places, other cultures (97)

Grade Three
Introduction to History and the Social Sciences

The standards for third grade develop an understanding of the elements of civilizations and their interrelationship by studying several early civilizations. Students also learn about the discovery, exploration, and colonization of America. Third graders should apply the concepts of latitude and longitude as they study the geography of Virginia and the United States. The study of economics continues within the context of the historical study of exploration and colonization, and students are expected to learn about economic specialization, taxation, and the influence of transportation and communication on the distribution of goods and services.

Let's Decide, a role-playing activity (10)
Constitution Concentration, a game of memory and matching pairs (18)
First, Second, Third…, making a time line (18)
What Floats? What Sails? learning by experimentation, trial and error (25)
Constitution Collage, making a collage (31)
Coloring, Counting and Chain of Command, putting objects in order (42)
Who has more ships? making a pictograph (55)
Good Luck, Bad Luck, writing about personal experience (67)
Skipper Says, a team activity to build discipline, memory and quick responses (80)
Simplified Skipper Says (80)
Speaking in Colors, understanding symbols (85)
World Exploring, understanding other places, other cultures (97)

Grade Four
Virginia Studies: 1607 to Present

The standards for fourth-grade students allow them to explore the rich history of Virginia from 1607 to the present. Geographic, economic, and civic concepts continue to be presented within this historic context. Students should use geographic tools to analyze the influence of physical and cultural geography on Virginia history. Fourth graders should also focus on concepts of economic interdependence and the historic ideas that form the foundation of political institutions in Virginia and the United States. Historic and current examples of monetary exchange, credit, and taxation should be compared, and students should begin examination of constitutional documents and the structure and operation of state government.

Grade Five
United States History to 1877

The standards for grade five relate to the history of the United States from Pre-Columbian times until 1877. Fifth graders will continue to learn fundamental concepts in civics, economics, and geography. This course continues in grade six. In these two years, students study United States history in chronological sequence and learn about change and continuity in our history, study documents and speeches that lay the foundation of American ideals and institutions, and examine the everyday life of people at different times in our history through the use of primary and secondary sources. Teachers are encouraged to use simulations, class debates, projects, or other innovative techniques to make the students' learning experiences lively and memorable. Students should have ample instruction devoted to reviewing and strengthening map and globe skills, skills of using and interpreting information, and historical thinking skills.

USS Constitution – What Do You Know? (10 (10)
Understanding Freedom (11)
A Navy Of Six, reading a table (21)
Navigating the Mediterranean, reading a map (56)
A Personal Point of View, conveying the facts (56)
Victory in the News, reading an historical, secondary source (62)
Eyewitness Account, reading a primary source (63)
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! writing a broadside (70)
Poetry Power, understanding the power of words (104)
Writing an Artifact, describing, relating form and function(110)
Prove It! understanding inference (111)
Who is Like You? writing a short story (120)

to top

Grade Six
United States History: 1877 to the Present

The standards for grade six relate to the history of the United States from the end of the Reconstruction period to the present day, thus completing a two-year study of American history in the elementary grades. Sixth graders should continue to learn fundamental concepts in civics, economics, and geography in the context of United States history. Teachers are encouraged to use simulations, class debates, projects, or other innovative techniques to make the students' learning experiences lively and memorable. Students should have ample instruction devoted to reviewing and strengthening map and globe skills, skills in interpreting and using information, and historical thinking skills.

Constitution’s Retirement Fact Sheet (99)
Did She Come to Your Town? (114)
Writing an Artifact, describing, relating form and function(110)
Prove It! understanding inference (111)
History Mystery Detective Squad, investigating local history (111)

Grade Seven
Civics and Economics

The standards for seventh-grade students cover the role of the citizen in the American political and economic systems. The focus is on gaining essential knowledge of the U.S. and Virginia Constitutions and the structure and functions of government institutions at the national, state, and local levels. Students also learn the basic principles, structure, and operation of the American economy. These standards are intended to foster patriotism, respect for the law, a sense of civic duty, and informed economic decision making. Social science skill development extends into quantitative data organization and interpretation.

Understanding Freedom (11)

Grade Eight
World History to 1000 A.D.

The standards for the eighth grade enable students to explore the historical development of people, places, and patterns of life from ancient times until about 1000 A.D. Students study the origins of much of our heritage using texts, maps, pictures, stories, diagrams, charts, chronological skills, inquiry/research skills, and technology skills.

Grade Nine
World History: 1000 A.D. to the Present

The standards for ninth-grade students cover history and geography from the late Middle Ages (1000 A.D.) to the present with emphasis on Western Europe. Geographic influences on history continue to be explored, but increasing attention is given to political boundaries that developed with the evolution of nation-states. Significant attention will be given to the ways in which scientific and technological revolutions created new economic conditions that in turn produced social and political changes. The people and events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will be emphasized for their strong connections to contemporary issues. The standards strike a balance between the broad themes of history and the probing of specific historic events, ideas, issues, persons, and documents. Using texts, maps, pictures, stories, diagrams, charts, and a variety of chronological, inquiry/research, and technological skills, students develop competence in chronological thinking, historical comprehension, and historical analysis.

Does America Need Warships? comparing yesterday and today (22)
Trades and Skills, conducting a survey(28)
Change for Better or Worse? conducting a panel discussion (40)
Crew Pay, understanding historical context (46)
The Nitty Gritty, read and report (46)
Striking Parallels in History, compare and contrast (58)
To Fight or Not to Fight, class discussion (58)
Fulton: No Folly to Brits, interpreting a political cartoon (64)
Personal Oberservation, writing an eyeitness account (64)
Why Me? confessional writing (70)
What a Glorious/Tragic Day! working with rhyme and meter (70)
Our Town, an oral history project (100)
Reasons to Believe, establishing facts from evidence (112)

Grade Ten
World Geography

The focus of this course is the study of the world's people, places, and environments with historical emphasis on Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East. The knowledge, skills, and perspectives of the course are centered on the world's population and cultural characteristics, its countries and regions, land forms and climates, natural resources and natural hazards, economic and political systems, and migration and settlement patterns. Spatial concepts of geography will be linked to chronological concepts of history to set a framework for studying human interactions. The course will emphasize how people in various cultures influence and are influenced by their physical and ecological environments. Using texts, maps, globes, graphs, pictures, stories, diagrams, charts, and a variety of geographic, inquiry/research, and technology skills, students consider the relationships between people and places while asking and answering geographic questions.

Grade Eleven
United States History

The standards for eleventh-grade students cover the historical development of American ideas and institutions from the Age of Exploration to the present. While focusing on political and economic history, the standards provide students with a basic knowledge of American culture through a chronological survey of major issues, movements, people, and events in United States and Virginia history.

Does America Need Warships? comparing yesterday and today (22)
Evaluating, Taking and Defending a Postiion, holding a debate (22)
Trades and Skills, conducting a survey(28)
Change for Better or Worse? conducting a panel discussion (40)
Crew Pay, understanding historical context (46)
The Nitty Gritty, read and report (46)
Striking Parallels in History, compare and contrast (58)
To Fight or Not to Fight, class discussion (58)
Fulton: No Folly to Brits, interpreting a political cartoon (64)
Personal Oberservation, writing an eyeitness account (64)
Why Me? confessional writing (70)
What a Glorious/Tragic Day! working with rhyme and meter (70)
Our Town, an oral history project (100)
Reasons to Believe, establishing facts from evidence (112)

Grade Twelve
United States and Virginia Government

The standards for the study of United States and Virginia government will ensure that graduates of Virginia's public schools understand the origins and workings of the American and Virginia political systems. The standards require that students have knowledge of the United States and Virginia Constitutions; the structure and operation of United States and Virginia governments; the process of policy- making, with emphasis on economics, foreign affairs, and civil rights issues; and the impact of the general public, political parties, interest groups, and the media on policy decisions. United States political and economic systems are compared to those of other nations, with emphasis on the relationships between economic and political freedoms. Economic content covers the United States market system, supply and demand, and the role of the government in the economy.

to top